This invention relates to apparatus for scrubbing the hull of a boat, and more particularly to such apparatus which scrubs the hull of a boat clean of marine growth, scum, oil and the like, without removing the boat from the water.
Boats which are continuously in the water are subject to accumulations of dirt, aquatic plant growth, and certain marine animals (e.g., barnacles if the boat is in salt or brackish water). This dirt and marine growth, if not removed, may cause the drag of the boat hull to increase sharply thus reducing the speed of the boat and increasing its fuel consumption. Also, oil films and other deposits may build up on the hull above and below the water line thus spoiling the appearance of the boat. Boat owners thus often find it necessary to periodically clean their boat's hull.
For smaller boats which may be readily trailered, such as outboard runabouts and smaller cruisers, the boat hull may be cleaned by trailering the boat and manually scrubbing the hull. While the expense of cleaning these smaller boats may not be substantial, it does take considerable time and effort. In order to clean larger boats, such as cabin cruisers, houseboats, or commercial boats, the boat must be hoisted out of the water (i.e., dry docked) and then manually scrubbed clean. Thus, not only do these larger boats require considerably more time and work to clean, but the expense of dry docking the boat for cleaning may be substantial. Oftentimes the owner of a large boat must pay a commercial boat repair yard to clean the hull. In certain geographic areas, hulls must be sometimes cleaned several times each boating season and thus the yearly cost of cleaning a larger boat is substantial.
Heretofore, several boat hull cleaning apparatus have been suggested. These prior art hull cleaning apparatus have, for the most part, either involved the use of brushes mounted on the boat and movable over its hull, or the use of brushes carried by a dock or other structure for scrubbing the boat hull as the boat and the brushes are moved relative to one another. In this last type of boat prior art cleaning apparatus, the brushes were mounted for vertical movement so as to accommodate boat hulls of different drafts, but could not readily conform to various hull shapes (e.g., V-shaped, rounded, or flat hulls).
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,124, 3,561,391 and 3,541,998 and to Norwegian Pat. No. 116,275 which illustrate prior art boat hull scrubbing apparatus.